Artificial leg



Man 6, 1923.

1,447,230 c. B. wlNN ARTIFICIAL LEG Filed Feb. 2, 192g iarlz 63.5'.

Patented Mar. 6, 1923.

CHESTER BnWINN, oF BUFFALQAKEWYQRK.

AnTrEIGrAL LEG. l

AppiistinniiedFebruary 2, 1922. Serial No. 532,532-

plicable lto* stumps ainputate'd `above the 10 lgnee. f

In such `legs, it is'neoessary to provide a .,siiffiiei' filing@ Qfkiieeiitiiiii to @110W for ysitting`und"kneeling. As ordinarily constriicted, .$111911 en, lflegrsefction "swing ltoo'iur `baekwgircl .in xviiikins'xeisng th .fOQt too' high .flfQiii ih@ ground 'and prodneriqnfr ayvilmmrd, unnatural gait. A leg Voizlinary on- Stiiifitieii ,liefs the wither serieus @,bjetioii what' in 'wk' s l deivii ,a :li `Qia fliglii /Qf Siirtsith legis Ylilfile i0 )heed backward Lift ,the knee-'joint fund suddenly .'huokle for eollztpse, oziusing -une,jeareto 'f zill.` {,Beingonseious of this 25 ,dingen weeiereqliiszthe habit 0f 'C011- "tiiiiiiiily ffQisiiseth stump 'ls backward ,in

ing,ipro`duoing a stiff, unnatural geit.

lThe objeet'i'of my inventionlisfvthe pro- In rlhe C o anying drawings: Figure l l0-isn seotionglfelevation ofthe invention,

shnvlng the leg l1n 2L standing position.

imilsr @hinders .Ggf refieren@ indicate .i f itgSi-hrpughont the sever-a1 0s -permit the r sligirilr or lower mg @il "iindiiie, @Specially of the artificiellleg, 11 the shank or lower 55 legfseetiori' yand ,'12 the foot-section. '"'lf'he thighLsetion is pinotzilly onnectedto fthe shank-,section intheusual manner; .for eX- nunipiekloy' 'it piyot or A,lniee-bolt is `)(niri'ialed i'n said thigh-section lund rigitlly 50 Connected to the oustoniiuyrstrapps or arms 14 secured to opposite 'sides Aofthe shankseetion, :is shown-in Fig. 5. lSecured at its lfoweriend to ,thezshanlifse- ,tion to move therewith, zindeXte-nding up- 65 ',wardly through aslot 15 in thelower'p'r- .tion of the thigh-,sectioinfis ilstofp device, Apreferebly in the forinof a post 1.6.,whih

l serves not only to liniit the oiwvard inoyevInentof the ,l'shanlifseotion tozstojo` tnztintlie 70 @weer peint iiS iaiiteiioiefioiiiis "in-Fig. '1, but also' to `arrestTits molvment i thilimin ofiitgpgsterio. is 'inthe "giet .otlrneelinfgythisp shown in Figli' T3 "e loWerL'end-TO: his 75y .Post lis attached .i0 the @ieper freni ,.Sidff 'the Ashank-section lZby'R' holty 17 'orother ,appropriate Aiffist.eiiiig, 4While' its Inliner'. @iid is hinged upon the, ,knee-boltundermines1 labove ythe latter 'in l@lug ,oreigtensionfl It 80 will be ohservedrthat'hy disposing this post t @he *fl-lont- 'Si-de Q the. .Shillfk-,SGCQ the central portion ofthe lutter ,is unobstructed, permitting it'toI .be hollowed out `for lightness. The front endofjtheQslotginthezthigh- 85 .section terminates loel'oW` theplnne ofthe knee-bolt sand forinsan zibutnient'zll against which `,the front i216@ of the stop pfost I116 is adapted t0 strike' ferlimitng the, interior motion' of theishenk-seotion, shownfin 90 The other' .end of said -`slot terniiits posterior movement, but at the same time it is capable of being released or moved to an inoperative position at the will of the wearer, to allow the shank-section to swing to the usual limit of its posterior movement when the wearer desires to sit, kneel vor stoop. In its preferred form, this safety device is in the form of a vertically swinging gravity dog or pawl 21 located in the thighsection 10 and fulcrumed on a transverse pivot pin 22 secured to the lower front side of said section above the plane of the kneebolt 13. The free end of this dog normally rests on a shoulder or semi-circular portion 23 of the stop post 1G which shoulder prevents it froin'dropping below that position. The dog stands normally in the path of movement of the exterior extension 18 of the stop post and when the lower shanksection is swung backwardly, as in walking on level or hilly ground or going up or down stairs, the front face of said extension strikes the opposing rear faceof the dog, thereby positively checking further posterior movement ofsaid shank-section, as shown in Fig. 2, and enabling the wearer to walk naturally with safety, ease and condence.

The tail 24 of this dog extends into an opening 25 in the front side of the thighsection where it is accessible to the wearer Y through his clothing, enabling him to conveniently move the dog to its retracted or inoperative position, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, when he wishes to assume a sitting, stooping or kneeling position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Upon depressing the tail to such dotted line position for this purpose, the dog proper is swung upwardly clear of the post-extensionlS, permitting the shanksection 1l, to swing to the eXtreme limit of its posterior position, if desired. wWhen the wearer again stands erect, the gravity dog rides over said post-extension and, automatically drops to the normal position shown in Fig. 1, ready to again restrict the posterior movement of the shank section to the safety range for walking.

It will thus be noted that the post 16 and the co-operating ends of the thigh-section slot constitute main stops for limiting the lshank-section at the extremities of its ariterior and posterior movements, while the retractible dog. 21 in conjunction with said of'rubbeig felt or similar material, and the 'dogfl is provided with a similar bumper '27. The Aprovision of these bumpers insures a'quiet and smooth action of the lower 'shank-'section both in its anterior and posterior movements. in addition to this function with the stop-extension 18 strikes the dog 21, as in walking, these resilient bumpers assist in propelling the shank-section 11 forward, producing a graceful, natural step.

in walking up or `down stairs or a hill, the thigh-section 10 swings backward to the intermediate or saftey stop position, enabling the wearer to place his entire weight on the artificial leg, when in that desired position, and making walking safe and certain. Especially is this the case in boarding or leaving a street car or railroad train. In such cases, the arrest of the shank-section at such intermediate point materially decreases the length of the artificial leg from the foot to the socket of the thigh-section, aiding the wearer in ascending or descending hills or stairs, while maintaining his entire weight on the artificial leg.

yVlhile 1 have herein shown and described one embodiment of my invention which has proved satisfactory in practice, 1 do not vwish to be limited to the particular construction, as the same may obviously be modiiied in various respects within-the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a thigh-sectioina shank-section, pivotallyy connected to said thigh-section, main stop means lfor limiting the shank-section at the extremities of its anterior and posterior movements, vand yan auxiliary safety-stop` under .control of the wearer for arresting the shank-section at a point short of its eXtreme posterior movement.

2. The combination Lof a thigh-section", a shank-section pivotally connected to said thigh-section, a part carried by one of said sections for limiting the anterior and posterior movements of said shank-section, and a releasable part carriedV by the other section and co-operating with said rst-named part for stopping the shank-section at an intermediate point in its posterior movement.

3. The combination of a thigh-section having a slot in. its lower end, a shank-section connected to said thigh-section by a pivot, a stop-member hinged upon said pivot and ent-ending` through said slot, the lower end of said; member being attached to said shank-section 'to move therewith and the ends ofsaid slot forming abutments for said stop member to limit the anterior and posterior movements of the shank-section, and means on. said thigh-section co-operating `with said stop member for normally. checkingl the movement of said shank-section beyond a predetermined Vpoint in its posterior action.

L1. The combination of a thigh-section having an opening, a shank-section pivotally connected to said thigh-section, a .stop-member attached to the shank-section to move stopping said shank-section at an intermediate point in its posterior movement, said stop device having a releasing member eX- tending into the opening of `the thigh-section.'

5. The combination of a thigh-section having a slot in its lower end, a shank-section connected to said thigh-section by a pivot, a

stop-post hinged upon thepivot of said sec-` tion and attached at its lower end to the shank-section to move therewith, said post extending through said slot and beingfprovided above said pivot with an extension,

and a retractible stop-dog ulcrumed in said thigh-section and normally disposed in the path of movement of said extension to stopA the shank-section at a desired intermediate point in its posterior movement, said thighsection being provided adjacentV said dog with an opening through which the same. is

accessible for disengaging it from said post: l

extension. v

6. The combination-of a thigh-section a shank-section `pivotally connected to said thigh-section, a part carried by and movable with one of said sections, and a part mount- 4, v

ed on the other section and co-operating with said first-named part `for stopping said shank-section atan intermediate point in its posterior movement, said co-operating .parts being provided with bumpers of elastic material. l,

7. The combination ofa-thighsection,a shank-section pivotally connected to said thigh-section, a stop-member secured to the shank-section and extending into the thighsection, land a releasable stop-dog mounted on the thigh-section and normally disposed in the ath of movement of said stop member, saldstop member and said dogl being provided with elasticv bumpers.

'CHESTER B. wiiviv.k 

